ofgreatbritainonhis arm, and then the ambassador would come with the president's hostess on his arm, a wife if there was a wife. jefferson had the rule: he who is next to the door goes in first. this created a diplomatic flap because the ambassador of great britain was just outraged at this. c-span: again, you--you're writing about people who were born between 1776 and 1800. >> guest: yes. c-span: so the focus--the years that you're really focused of them being old enough to be involved, would be what? >> guest: well, i would say really the first three decades of the 19th century. c-span: 1800 to 1830? >> guest: mm-hmm. mm-hmm. i have material on the 1790s because it's a very tumultuous decade and it's important, and there are some of them who, by that time, are in their 20s. but, yes, most of the action. c-span: give us a profile on what the united states looked like in those 30 years: people, where they had come from, what their religion was. >> guest: well, to give a profile of a country that was as rambunctious as american society in those decades is going to be very hard. i can